forum ɪꜱ ɪᴛ ʀᴇᴀʟ ɴᴏᴡ? // OxO // OPEN

Started March 04, 2022 by @EtherealDreamer

tune

Winifred smiled and nodded. "I won't."

Paisley offered a small smile back before she touched Winifred's shoulder comfortingly. Again, a dazzling burst of color filled her vision before disappearing. She reacted in a much more controlled way than before, only blinking in amazement and a quiet gasp, but this time… it couldn't be a simple coincidence now, could it? It had happened when she touched Winifred.

Winifred heard the gasp and turned to look at her.
"Are you okay?" She asked, in concern.

Paisley’s lips opened, shut, opened, and shut. “I-I don’t know,” she finally replied, honestly.

She wanted to tell the girl, ask her if they were experiencing the same thing. But her fear held her back. What if Winifred didn’t see anything? What if she rejects me? What if… She stopped and bit her lip, hesitating.

Suddenly, another “what if” popped into her head: What if this is it, and it’s meant to be? Paisley was shocked by the thought.

Winifred narrowed her eyes and stared at Paisley, who had gone pale and taken on a stricken look.
She nudged her gently with her elbow. "You okay?" She asked, slightly concerned.

Paisley jerked to attention at the action and studied Winifred's face intently. Do it! a little voice whispered in her head. Tell her!

"I lied," she blurted out. "I can see color. I saw it when I touched you. Twice. And before. Just when I looked at you. I saw it then too."

Winifred froze with her hand on Paisley's shoulder.
She stared off into space for a minute, imagining the two ways this could go.
She told you, you might as well tell her! Her conscience shouted.
"I've seen it too." She said, pulling her hand away slowly and smiled brightly at Paisley. "I'm glad, I could've got stuck with someone totally obnoxious."

Paisley's expression was tense as she waited for Winifred's response, especially when the girl seemed to freeze. Then her anxiety and fear melted into a wide smile. "Oh thank God!" she exclaimed. "I was worried for a second. But the joke's on you. I'm secretly totally obnoxious." She giggled excitedly.

Winifred shoved Paisley playfully, with barely any power behind it.
"Shut up," She said, laughing. "I snore, so the joke's actually on you."

Paisley blushed and giggled even harder. Just like that, another dazzling burst of color filled her vision, and her eyes widened in awe. “You’re so beautiful in color,” she whispered, staring at Winifred.

Winifred stared at her, a small smile turning up the corners of her lips.
This time, instead of a burst of color, color slowly flooded her vision from the outer corners of her eyes, inward.

Paisley never thought her first experience with color would be like this, and she'd daydreamed about it plenty of times. She thought she would look all around at the spectacular colors of whatever surrounded her and wouldn't stop.

Instead, Paisley found herself unable to look away from the girl right in front of her. She was so pretty… and the color only made it better. She hadn't realized there was a blonde streak in Winifred's hair until this moment. And her lips were the most perfect shade of pink. And her eyes were a warm brown. Everything about her was so attractive that Paisley couldn't help but stare.

"Wh-What color is my shirt?" she finally asked. Paisley knew the color – blue – since Jasmine had told her in the morning over their FaceTime. She would know if Winifred was lying… but how could she be? Paisley's vision was so bright with the newness of colors that she was still trying to give names to.

Winifred smiled, taking a moment to take in the sight of Paisley in color, her shirt was blue, her jeans a slightly darker blue.
"Blue." Winifred said in awe, touching the tips of her fingers to her lips. "It's blue."

Paisley grinned and threw her arms around Winifred in excitement. "Oh my God!" she cried out, squeezing the girl tightly. "OhmyGod!OhmyGod!OhmyGod!"

Winifred rocked from side to side in result of Paisley's added weight. She had her arms pinned to her side, so she could not hug the girl back, but succeeded in gently patting her leg.

Paisley blushed and pulled away. "Sorry," she apologized. "I should've asked if you like hugs. Um… do you like hugs?" She awkwardly held her arms out and grinned.

Winifred nodded and stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Paisley's waist, and keeping a firm grip.
"Yeah," she said. "I do, actually."

Paisley smiled and draped her arms around Winifred's neck. "Perfect," she chirped. "I was worried for a second that you would say no." She leaned forward and rested her head on Winifred's shoulder.

Winifred pulled away slowly.
"But probably not here, they have cameras. They don't check them a lot, but we should probably not hug just in case." She said nervously.

Paisley blushed and took a small step back. "Yeah, no, right. That makes sense. But would you want to come over to my apartment after our shifts end? We could talk and maybe hug some more." She winked playfully.

Winifred nodded, keeping her face angled down so Paisley wouldn't see her red cheeks.
"Sure," she said, her voice cracking. "That'd be nice."

Paisley's eyes widened. "Am I embarrassing you? I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to…" She blushed in her own right, her own cheeks turning a flaming shade of pink.

Winifred shook her head lightly.
"No," she said, honestly "No worries, I just don't want you to get in trouble on your first day."

Paisley nodded quickly. "Okay. Yeah, no… that makes sense…" She still felt her blush heating her face, and with a start, she realized that the pink on Winifred's cheeks made her look really cute. "I'm sorry," she added shyly.

Winifred nodded.
"What time does your shift end?" She asked Paisley. "Made we could hangout, after?"

Paisley opened her mouth to reply, but she closed it with an embarrassed frown. "Um… I forgot," she admitted. "I only knew I needed to be here at 10. Is there a schedule somewhere that I could check?"

Winifred pointing to a clipboard hung on the wall.
"Just find your name and it'll tell you what shifts you work on what day and what time they end, too." She said kindly. "Can you check what time mine ends too?"

Paisley grinned and hurried over in the direction Winifred pointed. Her eyes scanned the list of names for hers, which was at the bottom. Obviously, since she was the newest hire.

"I'm here until seven. Same as you," she announced before turning back to the other girl.

Winifred nodded curtly.
"Honestly, if we don't get enough customers we can just clean and then hang around." She told Paisley.

(shy wave Heyyyy… I'm back :))

Paisley smiled happily. "Okay, that sounds great!"

Eagerly, she took a minute to look around at the new colors in her vision. Then she turned back to Winifred. "I can't believe I can see colors now," she murmured. "I never thought I'd find my soulmate."